TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State (8-0, 0-0 Pac-10 and ranked No. 12 Baseball America, No. 15 Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 27 Collegiate Baseball in the preseason polls) return from Hawaii to host Howard University (0-0, 0-0 conference) in a three-game non-conference series at Packard Stadium this weekend. Last year the Sun Devils finished the season with a 41-23 overall record, 18-11 in the conference and a number two ranking nationally after finishing second at the College World Series.

THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO -- KMVP 860 AM will broadcast Arizona State's home and away games during the 1999 season. This week, Friday and Saturday's broadcasts will be live while Sunday's game will be tape-delayed. Trey Bender and Bob Eger will provide the play-by-play and color commentary respectively.

AIMLESS FACTS DEPARTMENT -- Arizona State has not been shutout in its last 203 games (last time shutout was a 0-9 loss to USC on April 7, 1995) ...Andrew Beinbrink has become only the fifth Sun Devil in history to record over 200 career RBI ... ASU pitchers have thrown three complete game shutouts ... ASU has outscored its opponents 82-15 through eight games ... ASU baseball is celebrating 40 years of collegiate baseball in 1999; the Devils first took the field as a varsity sport back in 1959 ... the Sun Devils have begun the season 8-0 for two straight years ('99 and '98) ... head coach Pat Murphy was honored as Baseball America's 1998 Coach of the Year ... the ASU/Utah series marked the first time wooden bats were used in a regular-season game by collegiate teams in almost 30 years ... Arizona State has yet to let an opponent score in the first, seventh or eighth innings ... the ASU pitching staff has allowed only 14 walks in its first eight games (1.9 BB per game) and are averaging 10.6 strikeouts per game as well ... the Devils are averaging 2.75 stolen bases per game ... the Devils have yet to hit a homerun through eight games this season ... ASU is batting a healthy .336 as a team while holding opponents to a .168 average ... opponents have yet to record a sacrifice fly or a triple this season ... ASU has allowed only three extra base hits on the year ... Arizona State is averaging 10.25 runs per game and 10.5 hits per game ... three everyday starters are batting over .400 for ASU.

ABOUT HOWARD UNIVERSITY -- Howard finished 23-31, 19-3 in conference play last year ... they are coached by Chuck Hinton ... they are opening the '99 season in Tempe ... this will be the first meeting between the two teams ... Eunique Johnson batted .389 with eight homeruns for the Bison last year ... righthanded pitcher Hasani Widemond returns this year after pacing Howard with 84.0 IP, 120 H, 100 R, 74 ER, 56 BB, 39 K and a 7.39 ERA.

BEINBRINK CLOSING IN ON CAREER MARKS-- Thirdbaseman Andrew Beinbrink (San Diego, Calif.) returns for his senior season and will likely become ASU's career leader in RBI, surpassing current Sun Devil Clay Westlake (1973-76). The 6-3 infielder has 207 RBI and needs just 43 RBI to become the all-time RBI leader (Beinbrink has averaged 66 RBI over the past three years). He is currently on a five-game hitting streak. He batted .500 vs. Hawaii-Hilo with six runs scored and four RBI. With his 56 career doubles, he ranks fifth all-time at ASU (Westlake is the leader with 85 career doubles). Beinbrink could finish his career in the top five in seven of 10 offensive categories at Arizona State. The two-time first-team all-conference selection currently ranks eighth in the Pac-10 in career RBI as well.

THE HIT MAN -- Returning junior All-American Willie Bloomquist (Port Orchard, Wash.) makes the move to the infield for the Devils in 1999, taking over at shortstop for the departed Michael Collins. As the leadoff batter for the Devils, his on base percentage is currently .632. The first-team All-Pac-10 selection's '98 batting average of .414 ranks seventh all-time at ASU. His batting average has never dipped below .300 his entire career. He has drawn a team-leading 14 walks and also has scored a team-leading 14 runs Bloomquist is batting .625 as a leadoff batter and is batting .429 with runners in scoring position. He was selected to both Baseball America's (second-team) and Collegiate Baseball's (third-team) preseason All-American teams.

WALDRIP GOES THE DISTANCE ... AGAIN -- Junior transfer Will Waldrip (Flagstaff, Ariz.) posted his second consecutive complete game shutout with a 3-0 victory over Hawaii-Hilo (1/23). He becomes the first ASU pitcher since Doug Henry in 1983 to post back-to-back complete game shutouts (May 28 vs. CS-Fullerton, 8-0 and June 5 vs. Maine, 7-0). Primarily an infielder at Brigham Young, Waldrip logged only 17.2 inning pitched last year for the Cougars. After transferring to ASU, he became a full-time pitcher. Waldrip has now pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings for the Devils. He is holding opponent batters to a .103 average at the plate. Waldrip is averaging 12.0 strikeouts and 1.5 walks per game this season.

THE KILLER B's -- Preseason All-Americans Andrew Beinbrink and Willie Bloomquist will lead the offensive charge for the Devils in '99. Last year, the duo combined for 30% of ASU's RBIs (146 of 483 RBI), 27% of ASU runs scored (151 of 557), 28% of the team's homeruns (16 of 57), 28% of Arizona State's doubles (36 of 132), 49% of the Devils triples (13 of 27) and 25% of ASU's hits (186 of 723).

FRIEDBERG PITCHES A GEM -- Sophomore lefty Drew Friedberg (Middleton, Wisc.) pitched the best game of his collegiate career with a one-hit complete game shutout on Sunday against Hawaii-Hilo. He faced 28 batters, one more than the minimum number of batters faced in a nine-inning game. He recorded a career-high seven strikeouts and walked one. Friedberg's one-hitter is only the 26th in school history. He is the 21st ASU pitcher to record a complete game one-hitter. The last Sun Devil to record a complete game one-hitter was Billy Neal vs. California on April 22, 1994. Friedberg pitched 11.0 innings over the weekend including two innings in relief on Friday night.

INJURY REPORT -- Freshman infielder Gonzo Grasis (Tucson, Ariz.) has had surgery on his left wrist and will most likely be out for the season.

NCAA FIELD EXPANDS TO 64 TEAMS IN 1999 -- The NCAA will expand the postseason field from 48 to 64 teams in '99 as well as present a new regional format. Regionals will begin on May 27th at 16 sites with four teams each in a double-elimination format. The winners will be reseeded and sent to eight "Super Regional" sites (two teams each) to play a three-game series beginning June 4. The winners will then advance to the College World Series held June 11-19 in Omaha, Neb. at Rosenblatt Stadium.

THE NORTH AND SOUTH -- This season the Pacific-10 Northern and Southern Divisions will combine and play a 24-game schedule. Nine of the conference schools will field baseball teams (Arizona State, Arizona, California, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington and Washington State). Each team will play the other member schools in a three-game series either home or away. ASU will play in-state rival Arizona six times, however only one of the series will count in conference play.

DRAFTED DEVILS -- A total of nineteen current players on the 1999 Arizona State squad have been taken in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

ASU Baseball on the Internet -- Fans can catch-up on the latest news in Sun Devil Baseball on the internet at the official Arizona State Athletics homepage - http://www.thesundevils.com

Sun Devils On The Radio -- KMVP 860 AM continues its association with Arizona State baseball with a tentative package of 58 home and away games to be broadcast this season. Trey Bender calls the play-by-play while Bob Eger will handle color commentary duties. The following is a list of the five games that will not be broadcast by KMVP: the first game of the Hawaii-Hilo doubleheader on Jan. 23, the alumni game on Feb. 2, the exhibition game with the Angels on Mar. 3, the exhibition game with Aomori University and the second game of the Boston College doubleheader on Mar. 20. You can listen to the games via the internet through broadcast.com

THE BEGINNING AND END OF IT -- Here are the pitching lines on ASU starters and relievers.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK -- Pitching coach John Pawlowski joins the Arizona State coaching staff for the 1999 season and has already made an impact with the Devils young pitching staff. Through eight games, the pitching staffs ERA is 1.48 and has only allowed 14 walks while striking out 79. It has also produced three complete game shutouts. Pawlowski comes to ASU from Clemson where he coached two first round draft picks (Kris Benson and Billy Koch) and 15 total draft picks from 1993-98. A former major leaguer, he pitched in the Chicago White Sox organization from 1985-91. He also had stints with the Angels and Orioles organizations. Pawlowski, a '96 graduate from Clemson, was a three-year letterwinner for the Tiger from 1983-85 and had a 9-3 record as a junior with 17 starts. He was a sixth-round draft pick of the White Sox in 1985. In March, he will be inducted into the Upstate New York Section IV Hall of Fame.

ERNSTER COMES ON STRONG -- Junior infielder Mark Ernster (Glendale, Ariz.) has come on strong since getting the starting nod at second base. Through eight games, he is batting .450 with four doubles. His nine hits is fourth-best on the team. Ernster has been perfect in the field with 11 putouts and 15 assists. The Arizona native is batting .692 with runners on base and .750 with runners in scoring position. He is 2-for-2 in RBI situations with a runner on third and less than two outs. Ernster set a career high going 4-for-4 with two doubles vs. Hawaii-Hilo (1/23).